Mastodon hair, fossils at Gem and Mineral Museum

The Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Museum now has a fascinating collection of fossils in addition to the many gems and minerals on display. A replica of a mastodon skull complete with tusks can be seen as well as fossils of mastodon leg bones and a partial fossilized tusk. The tusk, loaned by John Frey, has circular rings like a tree and might even be mistaken for petrified wood.

A diorama of how our area might have looked 136 million years ago is interesting and is near a display with information about some of the various dinosaurs that roamed our area.

Fossils from other areas area also featured. Trilobites from Morocco, ammonites from Russia, plants from China, dinosaur dung from Utah and dinosaur eggs from China are some of the interesting fossils on display.

Some of the most fascinating items are samples of mammoth ivory from Russia and mammoth hair found in 1997 in the Yuribei Peninsula in Siberia. The ball of light brown, almost blond, hair is thick and matted.

A display on lapidary, which means the cutting, polishing and sometimes engraving of gems or semi-precious stones, shows the stones in the rough as well as the finished product.

Want to find out what avocado leaves looked like 10 million years ago? A display of fossilized avocado leaves can provide you with that information. The fossil record proves that the avocado was native to California. The fossilized leaves date from the Miocene period approximately 10 to 15 million years ago, when California’s climate was more humid.

According to the display information, fossilized avocados were found in northern California, central California and parts of southern California but not in Fallbrook. In southern California the fossilized avocados were found in Tehachapi, Palmdale and Mt. Eden.

The display provides interesting information and asks the question “Who ate avocados during the ice age?” The giant ground sloth was one. He swallowed the avocado whole. The display further informs visitors that giant ground sloths vanished 12,000 years ago due to climate change and hunting by early humans. President Thomas Jefferson collected bones of this animal and when he sent Lewis and Clark to explore the west he asked them to keep an eye out for this creature.

The display of the green, red and purple iridescent stone “ammolite,” derived from fossil ammonites, won the 2006 San Diego County Fair Gems and Minerals John Dalley Memorial Award for the best educational exhibit. Abundant in all of the oceans, these cephalopods resembling present-day squid existed from the Paleozoic period to the end of the Cretaceous period, when they suddenly became extinct.

Also on display are various minerals from throughout San Diego County: quartz from De Luz, tourmaline from Ramona and columbite from Pala. A large display case shows a reconstruction of an actual tourmaline gem pocket found in Pala. Peter Bancroft and John Barlow did the work with the help of their families.

After viewing the museum, take some time to look at the wide variety of minerals for sale in the gift shop. Beautifully designed gem and mineral jewelry is also available, which is reasonably priced.

The Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Museum is run by the Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Society, which was founded in 1957 and “consists of a group of individuals who share common interests in gems, minerals, jewelry, geology, paleontology and the related earth sciences and lapidary arts.”

The Fallbrook Gem and Mineral Museum is located at 123 West Alvarado. For more information please call (760) 723-1130, as visitation days and hours are limited.